The UFC continued its streak of new fight announcements yesterday by confirming three new fight matchups for upcoming events, and for today’s MMA Odds and Ends, I’ll give my thoughts on them.

Alex Caceres vs. Sergio Pettis, UFC on FOX 10

The first fight announcement the UFC made yesterday, and my favorite of the bunch, is a bantamweight bout at UFC on FOX 10 between Alex Caceres and Sergio Pettis.

This is an awesome fight and I absolutely can’t wait to see it go down.

Although Caceres has been on a tear since dropping down to 135 pounds back at UFC on FOX 1, Pettis is a stud and a future champion and this is not an easy matchup for Caceres whatsoever, particularly if it remains on the feet. And although Pettis was put in some trouble by Will Campuzano in his last fight, Caceres doesn’t offer that sort of offensive wrestling threat.

I’m thinking Pettis opens at -200 for this fight, and while that might seem high based on Caceres’ extensive UFC experience, I am really high on “The Phenom” and think this is going to be his second Octagon victory as he moves towards a shot at the UFC bantamweight championship.

Bobby Green vs. Abel Trujillo, UFC 169

As well, the UFC announced a lightweight matchup between Bobby Green and Abel Trujillo will take place at UFC 169. Both men just fought last weekend at UFC on FOX 9, but with both picking up impressive wins and not taking any damage in their fights, neither minded getting back in the cage next February.

This is a good fight and I expect the betting line for it to be close, but I believe Green is the better overall fighter and he should be favored here slightly. Not by much, mind you, as Trujillo is going to have a lot of hype behind him coming off his TKO win over Roger Bowling, but I still think Green will be about -140 or so here.

Wilson Reis vs. Yuri Alcantara, UFC Fight Night 36

And finally, the last new fight announcement I want to mention is a bantamweight match between Wilson Reis and Yuri Alcantara, which takes place at UFC Fight Night 36. Although Reis is coming off a win and Alcantara a loss, I still think this fight makes a lot of sense and I’m glad to see it booked.

As for how I think the fight will go down, I see Alcantara having the edges early on, but as we saw in his last fight against Urijah Faber, the weight cut to 135 is a lot for him and if he gasses out after a round, Reis could grind him out like he did to Ivan Menjivar at UFC 165.

Still, Alcantara should be the favorite here, likely around -180 or so, and I could honestly see him getting a stoppage win if he fights to his full potential.

One response to “MMA Odds and Ends for Friday: Caceres/Pettis, Green/Bowling Booked”

The only thing that separates Yuri from the top guys in the BW division is his cardio and his wrestling. This is the perfect fight for him to improve on those two points. Reis showed in his last fight, he’s good at getting takedowns from catching kicks. His other takedowns were denied by Menjivar pretty easily. I think Yuri can shrug off his takedowns as well, as long as he doesn’t throw too many legkicks and avoids the clinch. I’m going with the knockout for Yuri. If he doesn’t get it, he has enough in his tank to take 2 rounds at least.

I’m a huge fan of Trujillo, so I’m probably biased. But Greens chin is gonna get tested in this one. And Trujillo has the wrestling and unlike Healy, he has the explosiveness to actually get those TD’s before Green can even defend them. Like Yuri, the only thing that worries me about Trujillo is his cardio. He’s improving every single fight, so we’ll see.

I’ve also learned to never count out Caceres! This is gonna be a tough one for Pettis. Caceres fights always end up being close fights. Pettis should try his best to leave this one out of the hands of the judges.